The Ingram Building

The Ingram Building was built in 1965 – 67 as a Chemistry Building for the University of Kent and now houses the School of Physical Sciences. The teaching laboratories had remained largely unchanged thoughout the life of the building and were in need of refurbishment to meet current laboratory standards, teaching methods and the increasing expectations of students and academics.

The alteration and refurbishment provide new wet and dry teaching laboratory accommodation and associated support areas. The new facilities include a 130 person general physics laboratory, incorporating 12 double fume cupboards, an analytical laboratory and a 100 person electronics/forensics laboratory, all meet current laboratory standards and teaching methods. The works include the replacement and enhancement of all building services and the upgrading of the building fabric.

The works included the replacement of laboratory furniture, ceilings, floor and wall finishes and all building services, the installation of new windows/doors, the upgrade of the building fabric, and the re-fit of existing toilets. The new fume cupboards achieve containment with a face velocity of 0.4m/s face velocity which yields a 20% energy and associated carbon reduction saving.

KBS Phase 2

A feasibility study for a new academic facility of 4,650sm for the School of Economics providing teaching spaces, meeting rooms, open plan & cellular offices, break out and social spaces, together with refurbishment of the existing buildings. The design aims to create vibrant and flexible spaces giving the school a distinct character. The design is set around the circular landscaped focal point whilst also respecting outlooks towards the lake and woodland of the campus.

Winchester University

Scheme for a student residential development comprising 490 study bedrooms, gymnasium, café and laundry on a steeply sloping site. Our approach to the design was to work with the existing topography of the site, utilising the existing terraces, and creating a strong linear access in the form of a street which terminates in a feature square. The street and square provide an opportunity for students to meet and interact and create a sense of enclosure, belonging and neighbourhood.
The student rooms are arranged in 8 person cluster flats in paired pavilions set along a street to encourage social interaction and community. The scale and mass of the blocks respects the grain and density of the surroundings.

Centre for Molecular Processing

The Centre for Molecular Processing is a new research development of 1,520sm (GIA) over three floors. The building provides seminar/meeting/administration space at ground floor with wet laboratory space, associated writing areas and dry space for IT/maths/engineering/computing on the upper floors. A glazed bridge will link the building to the existing bioscience building at first floor level to allow shared support facilities.

The building is designed to reflect the close collaboration between disciplines with a full height atrium linking the three floors of accommodation. The accommodation is planned to be as open as possible whilst providing the necessary level of enclosure and containment for the Laboratories.
The Laboratories, meeting room and seminar room will be mechanically ventilated and comfort cooled. The roof top plant roof will service these areas via external access ducts. The remainder of the building will be naturally ventilated, where possible, utilising the stack effect of the atrium. The building is designed to provide good levels of natural light, however solar gain is kept to a minimum by the use of rain screen cladding and solar shading.

Glyndwr University

An International open design competition for the development of 500 student residences on the Plas Coch Campus Wrexham. We approached the design with the aim of creating a community with a street pattern which leads from meeting place to meeting place and is interspersed with access locations, to allow points of orientation and social interaction. The residences are arranged in terraces of houses allowing flexibility for phasing as well to create a clear sense of identity and belonging.

This house design allows for all communal living spaces to be at ground floor level to give each house a lively ground floor function and help to provide natural security surveillance. Easy access for visitors separates the potentially noisier activities from bedroom areas and maintains security and privacy to the bedrooms at upper floors.

Modular bedroom units to help ensure the highest control of thermal performance and air-tightness together with ease of construction were proposed to create a student street of houses. Maximising energy efficiency, minimising energy consumption and then addressing the energy usage in a sustainable and cost effective manner whilst
maintaining a very high quality environment, based on passivhaus principles.

Darwin College

Darwin College was opened in 1970 and incorporated student bedrooms, and complimentary facilities.

As part of an ongoing programme to upgrade facilities Cornish Architects have reconfigured and refurbished the accommodation to create 32 student kitchen/dining facilities, refurbishment of 310 bedrooms in 62 flats, reception, central circulation core and access corridors. The scope of the work extended to the renovation of two lecture theatres and to improve the facility generally to suit the needs of people with disabilities. The work was planned and executed whilst the building was in occupation.

The Rochester Building

The project involved the conversion and refurbishment of an existing building to provide a university canteen, associated kitchen and toilets on the ground floor, together with meeting rooms and offices on the first floor. The facility serves the needs of two nearby teaching blocks. The building is located on the Medway Campus of the University of Kent. The site is within the Pembroke Conservation Area, a potential World Heritage site. The site was originally a Royal Navel Dockyard, Barracks and Gunnery School.

The Gillingham Building

From an initial design Cornish Architects took this project over and developed the scheme to provide new teaching space for the University of Kent on their Medway Campus. The site occupies a steeply sloping embankment set between original buildings of the Royal Naval complex of the gunnery school. This 4 storey contemporary intervention complements the original buildings and provides modern well lit, flexible teaching facilities and office accommodation.

Mary Seacole Building

A specialist teaching facility of approximately 4,300sm for the School of Health Sciences and Social Care. The building stands at the gateway to the Universityís Uxbridge Campus. Teaching and administration accommodation is arranged around a central communal space where students can gather. The building is naturally ventilated with exposed soffits and services.

Cornish Architects were executive architects.

Tyler Court

Tunnel form concrete construction was identified as the best method to meet the Clientís urgent programme. 339 student rooms set in group flats, each with their own kitchen/living spaces, are arranged in two multi storey blocks set into the sloping ground on the fringe of the campus around a central ‘street’. Cedar cladding breaks down the scale of the units and relates both to the surroundings and long views from the city centre.